Railroad appliance



JQRICK AND J. momwsm,

RAILROAD APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2, 1921.

v Patented June 21, 1921.

tnwskl.

OFFICE,

.romv RICK AND JOHN MOTOWSKI, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS OF ONE- TEIRD TO EDWARD A. MOCK,

0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

RAILROAD APPLIANCE.

aaeaaao,

Application filed. March 2,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN RICK and JOHN MOTOWSKI, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad Appliances; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in railroad appliances and refers more particularly to means for felguring' a rail to its supporting tie or the The most common and accepted manner of fastening a rail to a tie is by driving spikes in the tie to have the heads thereof projecting over the rail flange, or else to drive the spikes through a plate which engages the rail flange. This construction is faulty and the cause of numerous serious accidents, as a train in passing over the rail causes the flange thereof,as the train wheels pass beyond the ties, to tend to move upwardly as a result of which the spikes are loosened permitting spreading of the rails.

A. number of devices have been offered upon the market tending to cure this obvious defect in the present method of securing rails in place, but they have all failed as they are either subject to the faults of the method hereinbefore described, are too intricate and costly to manufacture, or prevent the ready removal of the rail which is desirable in such a device.

Another objection existing as to the old method of securing rails in place is that in order to remove the rail the securing spikes must befirst withdrawn and when the new rail is replaced it is necessary to first plug up the holes where the spikes were withdrawn or to redrive the spikes in a new place in the tie. As a result of this practice the useful life of a tie is limited causing a tremendous loss and wastage. I

Hence with the above and other objections in mind to the existing methods of securing a rail to a tie, our invention has for one of its objects to provide means securable to a tie or other support and provided with independent means for securing the rail thereto whereby the rail may be removed Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921,

1921. Serial No. 448,991.

without interfering with the securing means engaging the tie or support.

Our invention has for another of its obects to provide a member securable to a tie or other support by suitable fastening means such as spikes or the like and having means for releasably securing a rail thereto, said rail securing means having a part engageable with the fastening means driven into the tie or support whereby any tendency of the rail to rise will press down on said fastening members and prevent their detachment.

7 It is a further object of this invention to provide a device of the class described in which all the parts thereof are capable of being constructed by drop forging, stamping or the like whereby the cost of manufacture is materially decreased and to permit the manufacture thereof in quantity production without a tremendous amount of equipment.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear 'as the description proceeds, our invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawing, we have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of our invention constructed according to the best mode we have so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of our improved device illustrating a rail as secured therein, parts of said view being broken away and in section to more clearly illustrate various details of construction; and

accompanying drawing in which like nu-' merals designate like parts throughout the several views; Y

The numeral 5 designates a plate or base.

member of preferabl rectangular form and having two space openings 6 formed therein near each end through which are passed spikes or otherfastening members 7 for securing the plate to a tie or other support, not shown. The plate 5 has a struck up portion 8 adjacent each end, which portions are spaced apart a distance equal to the width of the bottom flange 9 of a rail 10 which may be of any size or design.

The plate 5 is slightly recessed or cut away outwardly of the portions 8, as at 11, and has its upper face provided with a lug or upstanding reinforcing rib 12 at the outer end of the recesses 11. The rail 10 is first set on the plate 5 with its flange 9 confined between the portions 8, when substantially T shaped fastening members 13 are inserted through the openings 14 thereof with their inner ends 15 engaging the adjacent top face of the rail flange 9 and the arms 16 thereof abutting the outer faces of said portions.

Each member 13 has the under face of its end 15 inclined to conform with the inclination of the rail flange 9 and has the under face of its portion alining with the arms 16 provided with an enlargement 17 which seats within the adjacent recess 11 andhas its outer face abutting the outer end of said recess and reinforcing rib 12,

see Fig. 2. With the members 13 in this position, their arms 16 engage the heads 18 of the fastening members 7 and are firmly wedged 0r secured in place by wedges 19 which are driven between the top' wall of portions 8 and members 13 to firmly bind said members against the bottom of recesses 11 and the rail flange 9. The wedges 19 are preferably of soft metal to permit the extreme inner ends thereof to be bent downwardly, as at 20, to prevent the accidental loosening of the rail.

From this construction it will be readily apparent that we provide means whereby the rail 10 may be readily removed without disturbing the spikes 7, as it is necessary to only, straighten out the bent ends 20 of the wedges, then dislodge the wedges and withdraw the members 13 from within the portions 8. From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which an invention of this character appertains that we have provided a device for securing rails to their sup orts, which will materially lengthen the use ul life of the ties, and which will perform its functions in a highly satisfactory manner.

What We claim as our invention is:

1. In a rail fastening, a rail receiving member, and means for securing a rail to said member and including a substantially inverted U-shaped member, a. fastening member adapted to be passed through said U-shaped member for engagement with the base of the rail to be secured onthe receivmg member, means for rigidly securing said fastening member in engagement with the rail base, and means cooperating with said securing means for preventing the accidental outward movement of the fastening member.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a plate securable to a support, spaced substantially inverted U -shaped members carried by said plate and adapted to have the bottom flange of a rail positioned therebetween on the plate, fastening members passed through said U-shaped members to engage the top face of said rail flange, means for rigidly securing said fastening members in engagement with the rail flange, and means cooperating with said securin means for preventing the accidental outwar movement of the fastening members.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a plate securable to a support, spaced substantially inverted U-shaped members carried by said plate and adapted to have the bottom. flange of a rail positioned therebetween on the plate, fastening members passed through said U-shaped members to engage the top face of said rail flange, parts carried by said plate and engaging the outer ends of said fastening members, and means for rigidly securing said fastening members in position engaging the rail.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a plate securable to a support, spaced substantially inverted U-shaped members carried by said plate and adapted to have the bottom flange of a rail positioned therebetween on the plate, said plate being recessed intermediate each U-shaped member to provide a shoulder, fastening members passed through said U-shaped members with their outer ends abutting said shoulders and their inner ends engaging the rail flange,

and means for securing said fastening members in said U-shaped members.

5. A rail fastening, comprising a plate having two substantiallv U-shaped strap members struck upwardly and spaced apart the width of the bottom flange of a rail adapted to be positioned therebetween, a projection on the top face of the plate outwardly of each strap member to form a shoulder, wedge members adapted to be passed through said strap members with their inner ends engaging the rail flange and their outer ends abutting the shoulders formed by said projections, and means for preventing the accidental removal of the wedge members therebetween said strap members.

6. A rail fastening device, comprising a metal plate, two strap members struck upwardly from the upper side of said plate and spaced apart to receive the bottom flange of a rail ada ted to be positioned therebetween on said p ate, upstanding projections on the top face of said plate spaced from the outer faces of said strap members, the plate being recessed said shoulders, and means removably securing said Wedge members in rail engaging position.

In testimony that 'we' claim the foregoing We havehereunto set our hands at Mil- 15 Waukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

JOHN RICK. J OHN MOTOVVSKI. 

